In recent decades the situation for Turkish small-scale fishers (SSFs) has become critical, threatening their economic and physical survival. Overfishing and illegal fishing have led to the collapse of important fish stocks. Pollution due to high levels of urbanisation and industrialisation, and insufficient environmental controls has contributed to falling fish stocks and catastrophic biodiversity loss, especially in the Marmara Sea. Finally, the marketing structure of fish and seafood has trapped many SSFs and their co-operatives in a cycle of accumulating debt. Current fish and seafood markets are based on intermediaries and commissioners (as well as bigger fish businesses concentrated in few hands) which utilise their market power to pressure SSFs to accept too-low prices, leading to a spiral of indebtedness. As a result of these pressures, small-scale fisheries became more and more marginalised. Younger generations lost interest in fishing and civil society was largely ignorant about fishers’ identity and culture.
In the face of these difficult conditions, SSF are finding their voice and highlighting the role of fisheries in broader food system change. The Association of Istanbul Fishing Cooperatives has become key fisher voice in global conversations about food sovereignty and agroecology. They participate in FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and IPC (International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty) meetings with other organizations fighting for food sovereignty such as La Via Campesina, and play an important role representing regional and global fisher movements in the international arena. These meetings and gatherings have facilitated a process of collective learning among a range of Small-Scale Fisher (SSF) movements, as well as other agroecology and food sovereignty movements composed of peasants, pastoralists, beekeepers, and global and regional climate justice movements. How did these Turkish fishers come to play such a central role in giving agroecology and food sovereignty meaning in the context of fisheries?
Small-scale fishing cooperatives in many regions are important social and political actors in strengthening localized food systems, sustainability of fish stocks, and just food regimes. The Association of Istanbul Fishing Cooperatives (henceforth Istanbul Birlik) is one of these actors. It represents 34 fisheries cooperatives with about 2,500 members mostly consisting of small-scale fishers around the Istanbul region in Turkey. It was founded in 1980, and the fishing areas of its members are mostly on the coastlines of the Marmara Sea or the (South Western) Black Sea.
Istanbul Birlik also forms part of SÜR-KOOP, which is the national central association of fishing cooperatives in Turkey. Founded in 2004 SÜR-KOOP is made up of 15 regional members. Istanbul Birlik, which has about 243 cooperative members representing approximately 19,000 individual fisher members, is a very active regional member. SÜR-KOOP, however, consists of both industrial and small-scale fishers. Therefore, the regional associations have distinctive characteristics, and their own positions and activities.
Historically, industrial fishers and industrial fisher cooperatives have been economically and politically influential actors, active in meetings with policy-makers, especially with the General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. However, small-scale fishers were previously less represented in these spaces and processes. The active participation and organisation of small-scale fisher cooperatives has made them stronger and more visible especially since 2012, when around 200 Istanbul Birlik fishers attended the fishery notification meeting in Ankara to the surprise of industrial fishers and policy-makers. [ ] This was the first time that such a meeting was attended by any small-scale fisher organisation.´
Transnational Institute